Special clutch and motor for looms



y 1957 c. F. EARNHARDT EIAL 2,797,785

:SPECIAL. CLUTCH AND MOTOR FOR LOOMS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1' Filed May 22,1953 m m T A 77%, hm 8 ma 0M 5 b RE @w m M 5 9 mm CJ y 1957 C. F.EARNHARDT ETAL 2,797,785

SPECIAL CLUTCH AND MOTOR FOR LOOMS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 22. l953 mmm mm United States Patent SPECIAL CLUTCH AND MOTOR FOR LOOMS CorneliusF. Earnhardt and James E. Earnhardt, Spartanburg, S. C., assignors toEarnhardt Electric Service, Inc., Spartanburg, S. C., a corporation ofSouth Carolina Application May 22, 1953, Serial No. 356,840

2 Claims. (Cl. 192-68) This invention relates specifically to theincorporation of drive mechanisms for looms and pertains particularly toan assembly combining an electric motor drive and clutching meanstherefor for imparting rotary motion to a loom.

A primary object of this invention is to provide a combined clutch andmotor assembly for looms which is of compact form so as to be radiallyadaptable to any type of loom providing for ease of installationthereon.

Another object of this invention is to provide an assembly in conformitywith the foregoing object which includes a fly wheel member on the driveshaft of the assembly which will impart a substantially continuous drivemotion to a loom with which the mechanism is associated.

This invention has for another object the elimination of theconventional clutch incorporated in the structure of the loom itself,the separate loom motor and clutch assembly allowing this unit to bepositioned when desired for ease of maintenance and adjustment, theprovision of the separate unit also rendering the loom structure proper,less cumbersome and difiicult to adjust, repair and generally maintain.

This invention has a still further object in the elimination of the manyoperational and structural difliculties inherent in looms having theirdrive and clutch units formed as parts of the loom itself.

These together with other objects and advantages which will becomesubsequently apparent reside in the details of construction andoperation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, whereinlike numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the assembly;

Figure 2 is an exploded view of the assembly shown in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is an elevational view showing one end cover of the device;

Figure 4 is an enlarged plan view of the clutch assembly; and

Figure 5 is a vertical section taken substantially along the plane ofsection line 55 showing details of the internal construction of theclutch assembly.

Referring now more particularly to Figures 1 and 2, reference numeralindicates generally the main body portion of the sectional housingassembly for the motor and clutch and this main body portion includesthe base plate portion 12 forming a support for the assembly and uponwhich a suitable controi box 14 is secured adjacent the opening 16 inthe main body portion through which the conductor 18 pass for supplyingcurrent to the stator (not shown) formed on the inner surface of themain body portion. The end cover 20 is provided with the peripheralflange 22 through which the fastening element 24 extends for securingthis end cover to a corresponding face of the main body portion and itwill be appreciated that this end cover member is provided with theframe plate 26 secured at the free end thereof which receives thebearing 28 secured to the free end 30 of the rotor shaft indicatedgenerally by the reference character 32. The rotor 34 is also secured tothe shaft 32 and in conjunction with the previously mentioned statorassembly provides a rotary drive motion to the shaft 32.

Spider assembly 36 includes the main flange portion 38 interposedbetween the right hand face of the main body portion and the end covermember 40 and also in eludes the inwardly directed finger members 42terminating at their inner ends in the bearing boss 44 within which therotor shaft 32 is journaled. The loom drive shaft 46 is journaled in theouter frame plate 48 of the end cover member 40.

Referring now more particularly to Figures 4 and 5, it will be seen thatthe rotor shaft 32 is provided with a bearing member 50 received withinthe boss 44 and has a reduced end portion 52 suitably secured to the flywheel member 54 which, in turn, is provided with a central recess 56receiving the pilot bearing 58 by means of which the inner end 60 of theloom drive shaft 46 is rotatably received. A pressure plate assembly 61is suitably secured to one face of the fly wheel and the clutch disk 62associated therewith is provided with a central hub 64 splined to aportion of the drive shaft 46. -The clutch assembly includes the bracketmember 66 suitably secured to the fly wheel and which carry at theirfree ends the pivot shaft member 68 upon which throw-out fingers 70 arerotatably received.

Pressure plate 72 is provided with the outstanding ear members 74provided with the elongated slot '76 through which the actuating pins 78project, these pins being carried by the free ends of the throw-outfingers 70. Springs 80 are interposed between the pressure plate and thethrow-out fingers to normally urge the free ends of the latter outwardlyto engage the clutch mechanism and it will be seen in this respect thatmovement of the throwout bearing assembly 82 to the left in Figure 5will effect inward motion of the throw-out fingers 70 against the actionof the spring 80 which will effect a lifting of the pressure plate 72away from the fly wheel 54 thus disengaging the clutch plate 62 anddrive to the shaft 46, such lifting being effected by the pivotal motionof the fingers in conjunction with the pin connection between suchfingers and the pressure plate.

As shown most clearly in Figure 3, the throw-out lever 84 projectsoutwardly of the cover member 40 and is pivoted intermediate its ends bythe pin 86 carried by the fastener 88 secured to the end plate on thiscover member. The lower end of the throw-out lever is formed as a yoke90 engaging within the annular groove 92 in the throw-out bearing toreciprocate the same back and forth on the shaft 46 in response tosuitable motion of the throw-out lever.

It will be noted that the spider assembly 36 is of sufficiently largedimension that the fly wheel member associated therewith may be formedin any convenient shape and size so as to provide the proper weight. Inthis re spect, it will be appreciated that the power demands of a loomare periodic in nature so that the overall eflect of the fly wheelassembly will be to smooth out the rotational motion of the loom driveshaft so that the same is rotated at a substantially constant rate andimparts the least strain on the entire mechanism. It will be furthernoted that the fly wheel assembly is connected directly to the motorshaft 30 that when the clutch is disengaged the loom drive shaft mayimmediately be brought to a halt inasmuch as the fly wheel will bedisconnected therefrom.

From the foregoing, the construction and operation of the device will bereadily understood and further explanation is believed to beunnecessary. However, since numerous modifications and changes willreadily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limitthe invention to the exact construction shown and described, andaccordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resortedto, falling within the scope of the appended claims. i

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. A combined motor and clutch assembly for looms, comprising asectional housing including a cylindrical main body portion, endcovermakers and a spider assembly, said spider assembly constituting anannular flange abutting one end of said cylindrical body, a bearing bossdisposed concentrically within said cylindrical body and a plurality ofradially disposed, arcuate fingers interconnecting said annular flangeand said bearing boss, one of said cover members being engaged againstthat face of said flange opposite to the face abutting said cylindricalbody, a plurality of fasteners removably securing said one cover memberto the body and clampingly positioning the flange therebetween, theother end cover member being removably secured to the other end of saidcylindrical body, an armature shaft journalled in said other covermember and said bearing boss, a fly wheel disposed within the confinesof said spider assembly and secured to one end of said armature shaft,said fly wheel having a centrally disposed bearing recess therein, aloom drive shaft projecting outwardly of the housing having one endjournalled within said bearing recess and an intermediate portionjournalled in the first mentioned cover member, a pressure plate carriedby said fly wheel, a clutch plate splined to said loom shaft anddisposed between the fly Wheel and pressure plate, a spring interposedbetween each of said fingers and the pressure plate constantly biasingsaid pressure plate aaginst said clutch plate so that said pressureplate and clutch plate are normally engaged, and means for selectivelyclamping the clutch disk between the fly wheel and pressure plate todrivingly connect and disconnect the loom shaft to the armature shaft.

2. A combined motor and clutch assembly for looms, comprising asectional housing including a cylindrical main body portion, end covermembers and a spider assembly, said spider assembly constituting anannular flange abutting one end of said cylindrical body, a bearing bossdisposed concentrically within said cylindrical body and a plurality ofradially disposed, arcuate fingers interconnecting said annular flangeand said bearing boss, one of said cover members being engaged againstthat face of said flange opposite to theface abutting said cylindricalbody, a plurality of fasteners'removably securing said one cover memberto the body and clampingly positioning the flange therebetween, theother end cover member being removably secured to the other end of saidcylindrical body, an armature shaft journalled in said other covermember and said bearing boss, a fly Wheel disposed within the confinesof said spider assembly and secured to one end of said armature shaft,said fly wheel having a centrally disposed bearing recess therein, aloom drive shaft projecting outwardly of the housing having one endjournalled within said bearing recess and an intermediate portionjournalled in the first mentioned cover member, a pressure plate carriedby said fly wheel, a clutch plate splined to said loom shaft anddisposed between the fly wheel and pressure plate, and means forselectively clamping the clutch disk between the fly wheel and pressureplate to drivingly connect and disconnect the loom shaft to the armatureshaft, said means including a throw-out bearing journalled on said loomshaft, a clutch throw-out lever pivotally carried by said one end covermember, a spring interposed between each of said fingers and pressureplate constantly biasing said pressure plate against said clutch plateso that said pressure plate, clutch plate and fly wheel are normallyengaged, said one end cover member having an aperture through which oneend of the throw-out lever projects, and the other end of said leverterminating in a yoke engaged with said throw-out bearing.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,666,956 Beyl Apr. 24, 1928 1,826,172 Greenwald Oct. 6, 1931 1,887,355Kranick Nov. 8, 1932 1,917,760 Geiger July 11, 1933 1,935,800 KingstonNov. 21, 1933

